News Archives - Speedcell

International Women’s Day: Recognising the Women Behind SPEEDCELL

Posted on 08/03/202606/03/2026 by hIpR4

In commemoration of International Women’s Day, SPEEDCELL recognises the contribution of the women who play a key role in the development and implementation of the project.

Women represent an important part of the SPEEDCELL team. Specifically, 20 women are actively involved in the project, contributing across multiple areas including research, gene synthesis platforms, cell line process development, regulatory compliance, business strategy, sustainability, intellectual property management and project coordination.

Their talent, expertise and leadership are instrumental in advancing the project’s objectives and demonstrating that equal opportunities in science and innovation are not only possible, but a reality.

SPEEDCELL aims to address critical challenges in health preparedness, including reducing time-to-market for new vaccines and therapeutic biologics in response to emerging health threats. Achieving this requires collaboration across scientific, technical and strategic domains, areas in which women are making significant contributions at every stage of the project.

International Women’s Day provides an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of fair access in the health sector. Within SPEEDCELL, the presence and leadership of women reflect a shared commitment to building stronger, more resilient health systems for the future.

New year, same values: SPEEDCELL moves forward with purpose in 2026

Posted on 15/01/202613/02/2026 by hIpR4

As 2026 begins, the European project SPEEDCELL reaffirms its commitment to the values that define its mission: optimising the development and manufacturing processes based on cell lines, a key modality in the production of vaccines and other biologics.

Funded by the EU4Health programme and coordinated by HIPRA, SPEEDCELL aims to accelerate the development and production of vaccines and other biologics in response to future health emergencies. A project that directly supports the “100 Days Mission”, an initiative of the European Union with a main goal: enabling biologic products to be developed and manufactured within just 100 days from the detection of a global health threat.

In the new year, the European project continues to move forward with the same clear purpose: protecting lives and reinforcing global health security through smarter and faster development and manufacturing systems for biologics.

Discover more about the project and the 100 Days Mission

Posted on 22/12/202513/02/2026 by hIpR4

Accelerating biotechnology to transform Europe’s emergency response capability, this is the ambition driving SPEEDCELL, a four-year project co-funded by the European Union and led by HIPRA. By developing faster, more efficient cell-line–based production technologies, SPEEDCELL is helping pave the way for a future in which essential vaccines and biological products can be made available in record time.

At the heart of this effort is a clear goal: enabling Europe to deliver critical medical measures within 100 days of detecting a new health threat. This vision, known as the EU’s 100-Day Mission, emerged after the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to ensure a stronger, more agile and better-prepared Europe.

Laura Ferrer Soler, R&D Director of HIPRA Human Health Division, emphasizes how SPEEDCELL is designed to meet this challenge. She explains that the project accelerates key development steps and strengthens HIPRA’s production capabilities, showcasing the organisation’s scientific and technological robustness.

By being fully executed by HIPRA group companies, SPEEDCELL leverages integrated expertise to build a faster, more resilient development and manufacturing platform for biotechnological products. Through innovation, process optimisation and advanced cell-line technologies, SPEEDCELL is expanding Europe’s capacity to react swiftly when new health emergencies arise.

The project not only improves the speed at which biological solutions can be produced but also reinforces Europe’s strategic autonomy and preparedness for the future.

HIPRA presents the SPEEDCELL project at BioSpain 2025

Posted on 15/10/202513/02/2026 by hIpR4

BioSpain 2025, one of the most relevant biotechnology events in Europe, was held this year in Barcelona. HIPRA Biotech Services, the Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) of HIPRA, actively participated in this major event with its own stand, where it showcased its advanced solutions and services for the biotech industry.
The company took part in various activities within the framework of the congress. Among these, a highlight was the press conference dedicated to presenting the SPEEDCELL project to specialized industry media.

The session was led by Laura Ferrer, R&D Director for Human Health at HIPRA, and Eduard Viladesau, General Manager of HIPRA Biotech Services, who explained how SPEEDCELL is revolutionizing vaccine manufacturing.

The project, which aims to reduce vaccine production time to just 100 days, represents a significant leap forward in the automation and efficiency of biotechnological manufacturing processes. By integrating cutting-edge technologies and innovative production models, SPEEDCELL aspires to set a new standard in rapid vaccine development and contribute to global preparedness against emerging health threats.

HIPRA’s participation in BioSpain 2025 once again underscores its commitment to innovation, collaboration, and the advancement of biotechnology to improve health worldwide.

HIPRA presents the SPEEDCELL Project at the PDA BioManufacturing Conference

Posted on 09/10/202513/02/2026 by hIpR4

The Human Health Operations Executive Director of HIPRA, Jordi Ruano, attended the PDA – Parenteral Drug Association BioManufacturing Conference held in Rotterdam, where he had the opportunity to present the European project SPEEDCELL, led by HIPRA and funded by the EU4Health program.

During his presentation, Ruano not only introduced the core of the project but also emphasized its transformative ambition: to develop vaccines in just 100 days. This goal, which is aligned with the European Union’s priorities to enhance preparedness and response to health emergencies, represents a paradigm shift in the way future pandemics are addressed.

Ruano also shared concrete examples of how our R&D, Production, and Quality teams are working together to make this vision a reality.

His presentation sparked great interest among the PDA community, which highlighted the importance of projects like SPEEDCELL in strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy and accelerating vaccine access in crisis situations.

SPEEDCELL, the new European project led by HIPRA, aims to reduce vaccine and biologics development to 100 days in emergency situations

Posted on 03/09/202513/02/2026 by hIpR4

HIPRA is leading the European project SPEEDCELL (SPEEDy CELL line development for pandemic response), a name that plays on the English terms speedy and cell, with the goal of transforming the development of vaccines and other biotechnological products to address future health crises. The project seeks to establish a faster, more flexible, and more efficient production platform, capable of delivering new biologic products in just 100 days.

With €3.96 million in funding through the European EU4Health program, SPEEDCELL addresses one of the major challenges of the European healthcare system: the need for agile and effective response mechanisms to global health emergencies.

The initiative, which will run for 4 years, focuses on optimizing development and manufacturing processes based on cell lines, widely used in the production of vaccines and biological products. The ultimate objective is to make the so-called “100 Days Mission” a reality, promoted by the European Commission and the HERA (Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority), to ensure rapid access to critical medical countermeasures during emergencies.

The COVID-19 pandemic tested the global healthcare system’s ability to respond quickly and effectively to large-scale health emergencies. The shortage and delays in the availability of approved vaccines and treatments during the early phases of the crisis, as well as reliance on production outside European territory, highlighted the need for Europe to develop its own flexible and scalable capacities to design and manufacture essential medicines in record time.

“With SPEEDCELL, HIPRA consolidates itself as one of the key players in driving a more prepared and autonomous Europe in the field of global health. The initiative reinforces our commitment to innovation and to responding to global challenges, contributing to the construction of a more resilient and strategic biopharmaceutical model aligned with European priorities for preparedness against future crises. Furthermore, with this project we aim to become the fastest in the world in producing biologics based on cell lines,” said Laura Ferrer, R&D Director of HIPRA’s Human Health Division.

The project, led and coordinated by the different companies within the HIPRA group, is being developed entirely in Spain and strengthens the country’s role as a strategic player in biopharmaceutical innovation and European health preparedness. Once developed, this technology will be made available to third parties through HIPRA Biotech Services, HIPRA’s CDMO.

In addition, HIPRA had already been selected by the European Commission and HERA to be part of the EU FAB project, a network of manufacturing capacities maintained in a permanent state of readiness for vaccines and critical medicines. This initiative, in which HIPRA is one of four participating European manufacturers, aims to guarantee an immediate response to future health emergencies. EU FAB represents recognition of HIPRA’s industrial know-how and infrastructure and complements projects such as SPEEDCELL in building a more resilient and autonomous European health model.

About EU4Health projects
EU4Health is the European Union program to strengthen healthcare systems and improve responses to health crises on a European scale. With an unprecedented budget for the 2021–2027 period, EU4Health funds projects that promote emergency preparedness, the availability of essential medicines and healthcare products, healthcare digitalization, and disease prevention, with the aim of better protecting the health of European citizens and strengthening cooperation among member states.